


The Universe I'm Helpless In

by vesta02



Category: The Wayhaven Chronicles (Interactive Fiction)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Intimacy, Pre-Relationship, body issues, plus size detective
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-16 00:08:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28572765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vesta02/pseuds/vesta02
Summary: Prompts and one-shots for my female detective and Nate.
Relationships: Female Detective/Nathaniel "Nate" Sewell
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	1. A kiss on your ankle

“Really, it’s fine, you don’t need to carry me.” Of all the embarrassing things to happen while on patrol, Anne had to trip over a sodding tree root. One she might have noticed if she had been paying closer attention to where she was walking instead of mooning over her companion that evening. For his part, Nate had turned to gallantry instead, sweeping her up as though she weighed nothing.

Which, of course, was a lie. The little (or rather loud as it was now) voice at the back of her head needled her intensely, reminding her that there was no feasible way anyone normal could do this, that it was only his supernatural strength that helped him carry her. This wasn’t romantic, this was embarrassing. Perhaps even a little humiliating, if she was honest.

“It’s fine, Anne,” Nate was warm and reassuring, offering a gentle smile that was meant to comfort, but did nothing to tame the butterflies in her belly. Instead, her cheeks burned and she did her best not to look at Nate. 

Thank god her little hatchback was in sight and, the moment they got within throwing distance, Anne squirmed. “Okay, you can set me down here!” 

“Are you sure? Your ankle-”

“Is fine, I’m certain of it.” She bloody well wasn’t, but it would only a matter of steps until she got to her car and could get herself home. “I know how to take care of myself, thank you.” Thankfully, Nate respected her wishes, helping ease her to the ground. The moment she put weight on the offending foot, however, pain shot through her as a hissing breath escaped Anne’s lips.

“Anne, let me help?” His hand was in hers, supporting her in the last few steps until they reached the car. Doors unlocked and opened, Anne sat down gratefully in the driver’s side. “Let me take a look?” Nate asked, kneeling before her, hands working the laces of her practical shoes that she always wore out patrolling.

“I, uh, okay,” Anne squeaked, mortified at the thrill that rushed up her spine when his fingers brushed against her bare skin, fear of being far too obvious already weighing her down. 

“Are you in pain?” Nate asked, his touch far too gentle; Anne could cry at the strange tenderness that followed those words. 

“It just hurts, nothing to fuss over.”

“You don’t like being taken care of.” It was a statement rather than a question and Anne clamped her lips tightly. “There’s no shame in it, Anne.”

“I should have been looking,” Anne couldn’t stop the babbling, squeezing her eyes shut and willing herself not to cry. There was no reason to shed tears over a sprained ankle, and yet that’s exactly what surfaced on the horizon. “It’s my own fault I’m hurt. You shouldn’t have to help, I should know better, be one step ahead of everything, y’know?” Invisible scars ached along her heart, words and phantom situations from the past coming to bite her in the present. 

“Anne,” Nate’s voice pulled her back to him, glancing back at him through a watery lens as she sniffed. “It was an accident. They happen.” His thumb brushed against the arch of her foot, pressing very gently along a spot that had already been troubling her long before she’d tripped. “There’s no shame in feeling hurt when you’ve injured.”

“Tell that to everyone I’ve ever known,” Anne responded, aware of the bitterness that overtook her before she could stop it. “Sorry, I’m just-”

“No apology necessary,” Nate was too kind, Anne thought, bringing one of her hands to quickly dash away any remnants of tears. “I’m just sorry you got hurt.” 

“I’ll survive,” Anne replied with a small sigh, “I always do.”

Nate gave a laugh, warm brown eyes meeting hers. Then, surprising her, his head ducked, ghosting a gentle kiss against her ankle. “For good measure,” He replied, his own cheeks holding a high flush to them that was barely visible in the low light of the evening. “Might I accompany you home?”

Anne, who was certain her whole face was bright red, could only nod. “Uh, yes,” she stammered after a moment, swallowing hard against more butterflies as Nate carefully rolled her sock back up and helped her back into her shoe. “That would be, uh, nice.”


	2. A kiss on the side of the ribs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here there be some mild NSFW

“I know I’m not much to look at-” Anne’s words catch in her throat, dropping her gaze, refusing or uncertain (he isn’t sure which) to meet Nate’s gaze. In the soft light of her bedroom lamp, Anne is a vision. Soft curves just aching to be touched, feminine floral lace covering her breasts, and a matching high-waisted panty drawing his gaze without even trying. He can hear her erratic heartbeat, all but tasting the uncertainty in the air between them. 

“No.” There’s a flicker across her face and he swears he sees fear for a brief moment. Nate pauses, adding quickly, “You are-” He draws a breath, taking one step forward, then another, fingers grazing along her jaw when he’s just in reach. “- _You are so much more than enough_.” How anyone can say differently is a fool and Nate finds himself quietly resolved to show Anne just that. He waits a moment when her gaze meets his finally, bright blue eyes revealing vulnerabilities and uncertainty, but she gives a little nod as he cups her cheeks with his hands.

“No poem could do you justice,” Nate leans in, ghosting a kiss against her temple, fingers gently pulling pins from the mousey brown locks she’s kept twisted up all day. He presses his fingertips against her scalp, eliciting a small moan from her, his own heart leaping as she leans into his touch now. “I want you, Anne. That has always been the truth.” God, he wants her to know, for her to believe that she’s more than she thinks.

Her breath catches as he kneels, a supplicant at the altar of her, hands cupping her hips, nose skimming against her skin and relishing the way she shudders when he finds little spots where she’s sensitive. All the places he’s seen her try to hide, he wants to touch, tracing lines across her stomach, gently squeezing and caressing in turn. Thank god she’d been by the bed, helping her lean back against it after she gives another shuddering sigh.

Nate pauses, thrilled at the open desire in her gaze. His lips curl upward slightly, ghosting his mouth up along her side, gently pressing a kiss just beneath the lace of her bralette. She gives a little shudder that turns to a keening moan when his teeth nip her skin right after. He sucks long enough to leave the barest bloom of a mark, following the less than gentle tug of her fingers in his hair until he looks up again with no small amount of triumph in his tone. “Yes, more of those noises, I think.”

Anne laughs, a little breathless, leaning down to capture his lips in a proper kiss. Her tongue traces along the seam of his mouth and he can’t help the little, needy sigh that escapes when her tongue gently caresses against his. “Please,” Anne murmurs, “I want you, too.”

“Dear heart,” Nate buries his face against the soft folds of her stomach, kissing her there, fingers hooking into the lacey edges of her panties to ease them down. “You have me.” His tongue traces across where her hip and leg meet, easing one leg over his shoulder, making eye contact with her as he presses an intimate kiss right at her core.

The noise she makes, he notes, will remain imprinted in his memory.


	3. A kiss along the collarbone

“It’s amazing that we’re even alive to see this!” Anne couldn’t help the babbling, her mouth running a million miles a minute as she and Nate trekked up the hill. Just outside of town, things were darker and, even in the cold, it was the perfect night to see the spectacular alignment of Saturn and Jupiter in the night sky. She usually made her way up here alone, lugging the telescope her aunt had given her as a child, barely able to balance her thermos of tea with how clunky the old girl had gotten; this time, however, she had an extra pair of hands that seemed to have no trouble carrying it.

“The Great Conjunction!” Anne beamed, digging her foot into the hard December ground, softened ever so slightly by a light mist earlier today, a little breathless both from the climb and the excitement that hummed in her veins. “Once every 400 years - or was it 600? - to see the planets within spitting distance!” She laughed as they reached the top, helping Nate place the telescope in the right spot.

“Assuming you count spitting distance as a few million miles,” Nate teased, but there was a lighthearted tinge to his voice, a gentle crinkle at the corners of his eyes in the dusk light and the adoration in his gaze making Anne squirm only a little. It was pleasant, warm, and comforting to see these looks today, rather than letting her quiet voice of discouragement bleed into those looks with nasty thoughts about things that had turned out to be categorically untrue. He adored her, _loved_ her, and these looks fell into her category of ‘proof’ along with many other instances.

(The way he moaned her name, how each time they came together seemed to sizzle more than the last, the tenderness he had for her all fell under this umbrella as well.)

“It’s an expression, you curmudgeon!” Anne swatted him playfully, handing over the second thermos she had brought up with them. “Did you see this last time?” She asked, overly eager and insanely curious about all the things Nate had seen in his time walking the earth. 

“I’ve seen many events like this,” Nate replied easily. “But that doesn’t diminish the joy and awe of seeing it happen again.” 

Anne swore she could feel his gaze burning a hole through her coat, which she’d left unbuttoned. She loved this pea coat, one of the few items she had managed to find from a charity shop that was in her size. It didn’t _quite_ shut all the way but that never stopped her from throwing it on. Cold as it may have been, it was mild enough that she didn’t succumb to shivering. Part of her wondered if Nate would offer his coat if that had been the case, warm at the thought of being enveloped in his scent and probably his arms around her-

“What can I help with?” Snapping from her daydreams, Anne shot Nate a quick little smile at the question.

“Can you hold my tea?” She asked, holding out her thermos for him to take. “I just need to line this up with the sunset…” She loved this part, fiddling with her settings and pausing to glance through the telescope, heart aflutter when she spotted the glimmer of Jupiter in her view. The universe was wide and expansive, too grand and beautiful for her to put words to it. It made her heart sing and, for a few moments, she could actually believe in a creator that made such beautiful things for her to witness.

“Come, see!” Anne pulled away, ushering Nate closer to the viewfinder once she’d taken her tea back. A quick sip proved it was still too hot to take a true gulp of it, letting herself stand instead with her fingers wrapped around the warmth that eked through the shell. 

“It’s stunning,” Nate’s breath escaped in a puff of steam, “though seeing your reaction is an even greater joy.”

“I love doing this,” Holding her thermos in one hand, Anne gestured to the telescope, “coming out here and seeing what I can find in the night sky.” Nate moved ever so slightly, allowing Anne to slide back in front of the viewfinder, his warmth at her back. “It’s poetic, if you think about it. Light from billions and billions of miles away, traveling across the expanse of space, just so I can see it here. It makes me feel small and very large all at once.”

Despite their head difference, his arms wrapped easily around her waist as Anne hummed in pleasure. “I’m glad to have been included.” His lips ghosted against her neck, her breath catching as he dipped even lower to press a soft kiss along her exposed collarbone. 

“Are you trying to seduce me, Nathaniel Sewell?” Anne teased, her own voice a little too breathless to actually be chastising him. She could all but feel the smile against her skin, giggling as he nuzzled a sensitive spot back up her neck.

“Perhaps,” He mused, matching her tone effortlessly. “But first, I think we need to look up again.” Stars and planets twinkled above as Anne breathed in deeply, leaning back against Nate, content for the first time in what felt like a lifetime.


	4. A kiss along the jawline

It always started with the rocking waves of the sea beneath his feet, the salt air tinged with red and rust. His breathing felt too shallow and too laborious all at once, caught between panic and calm. Dreams never made sense, but his mind constantly felt the need to come back to this moment in time, to a place that existed for only a moment and of which he was the only living remembrance. 

Rain fell and lightning struck; Nate couldn’t find his footing, stumbling over bodies and rigging that must have collapsed against the weight of the wind and the storm that surrounded him. Had it been storming? Sometimes he couldn’t remember, the details fogging when he reached out for them and vanishing like water cupped in his hands. Droplets, however, still remained, the constant dripping reminding him of the blood on his hands.

“No,” He croaked, glancing down to fingertips stained a dark red, the deck suddenly littered with too many bodies. Had there been this much carnage?

His eyes scanned the foggiest parts of the dream, panic rising sharp and sudden when he saw _her_ amongst the pile. Nate let out an inhuman cry, his chest feeling as though it would crack in two as he scrambled to get to her. “ _Anne_!”

There was too much blood, he thought, fingers grasping her, clutching her close as she struggled to breathe. The salt sea air remained, but the memory changed, the dream shifting as Nate cradled Anne in the wake of Murphy’s attack. Her blood, hot and overwhelming, seeped through his fingertips as he tried to stem the flow.

“Stay with me,” Nate leaned close, pressing his forehead against hers, alarmed at how cold and clammy she felt against him. “Please, Anne, just stay awake! Help will be here soon.” His mind knew how this moment ended, with a hospital bed and a small smile that lingered in the doorway before he left her to sleep. The moment he knew his heart was no longer entirely his own, that she carried it with her as well, was born of these moments.

“Please-” Anne rasped, the light fading from her eyes, her body growing heavier as she struggled to breathe. No one was around, there was no help, and Nate gave a dry sob as she slipped from his hands as easily as the water. Alone, he howled, left only with her blood on his hands, her voice still ringing in his ear.

“Nate? Nate!”

Nate awoke with a ragged cry on his lips, unable to stop his heart hammering, the sinking sensation of fear and grief mingling with each breath he took. His dark brown eyes searched in the dark, hands grasping and-

“It’s okay,” Anne ran a hand across his cheek and Nate sagged against her with a relieved sigh. “It was just a dream.” Her lips pressed a gentle kiss along the underside of his jaw, the steady beat of her heart thrumming something akin to calm in his overstimulated body. 

“I thought-” Nate cut himself off, squeezing his eyes shut. Anne, in turn, curled herself around him, shifting to tuck his face against her neck. 

“You don’t have to say a thing,” Anne murmured, fingers stroking his hair back, nails scratching against his scalp in an effort to soothe. “Bad dreams happen.” 

Nate swallowed hard, pressing his lips against her skin, centering himself on the steady sound of her breathing, the soothing touches against his scalp and the certainty that, while the nightmare had been unsettling beyond words, she was here and _safe_.


End file.
